Underwear bomber - a Giants power

Buck Harvey: The red thong had nothing to do with a Giants rookie. The kid pitcher, Madison Bumgarner, showed ability and poise far beyond what women's lingerie can provide.

Published 10:57 pm, Sunday, October 31, 2010

ARLINGTON - The red thong had nothing to do with a Giants rookie. The kid pitcher, Madison Bumgarner, showed ability and poise far beyond what women's lingerie can provide.

But the rest can be linked to a slinky, silky red and black glitter-embellished piece of PAPI brand underwear. The Giants call it their "Rally Thong," and they believe it causes baseballs to bounce their way.

A native Texan, Aubrey Huff, believes more than anyone. The Giants' designated hitter played for losers his entire career until, well, he wore the thong.

The Rangers have other concerns today after being shut out for the second time in the World Series. Now they will lean on Cliff Lee just so they can return to San Francisco, where they came apart last week.

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Still, maybe the Rangers can appreciate Huff and his story, because it begins with them. Huff grew up a Rangers fan.

He also grew up without a father. Aubrey Huff II was working as an apartment electrician in Abilene when he intervened in a domestic dispute in the complex and was shot and killed.

Huff was 6 years old at the time, and his mother raised him and his sister in Mineral Wells. She worked as a clerk at a Winn-Dixie, earning a teacher's certificate in her spare time, and she did what she could for her children.

For Huff, it was baseball. Without a father to throw baseballs to her son, she bought a replacement - a $2,500 pitching machine and batting cage. Given her grocery-store salary, that was a considerable sacrifice.

"I wouldn't be here," Huff said Sunday night, "without her making that decision."

But there was no way to predict he would be here, exactly, even after he had a long career with some good years. In 2008, for example, he hit .304 with 32 homers for Baltimore.

But those Orioles were as awful as most of the teams he played for. The one time he ended up with a decent group, with the Astros in 2006, he still lost.

The Astros had made the World Series the year before. When Huff arrived, they didn't even make the playoffs.

He was nearly out of baseball last winter when the Giants signed him as an afterthought. Huff was surging when, in September, he opted for something straight out of "Bull Durham."

His wife had bought the thong years ago as a joke. Seeing it in a drawer at home, Huff took it to the park when the Giants were in contention for a playoff berth with 30 games to go.

"Boys," Huff announced in his clubhouse, "this is going to be good for 20-10."

Huff didn't wear the thong just once. He wore it every day. He wore it sometimes with nothing else, sometimes while walking around the clubhouse, sometimes while conducting interviews.

Then the Giants finished exactly as he predicted, 20-10, clinching the National League West title on the last day of the season. Huff responded by getting three boxes of thongs from PAPI to distribute to teammates.

Loose is good, as is what Huff did in the third inning Sunday night. Playing as the Giants' designated hitter, Huff drove a two-run homer down the right-field line.

Afterward he was asked if he was wearing his good-luck charm, and Huff nodded. "It's something you get used to after a while," he said. "I always wonder how women do it, but it's not a big deal anymore."

Ask the Rangers, his childhood team. Huff changed the game with one swing, and now the Rangers are down 3-1, with both Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain ready to pitch for the Giants. It's a big deal.